Amid the intensifying conflict springs
new concerns over human rights violations.
Countless are feared caught in the cross-fires. International
rights groups have accused both sides of serious rights abuses. The Indonesian
Red Cross says it has recovered 176 bodies in civilian clothes. Almost 42,000 civilians have
fled their homes for safety. And their numbers are expected to reach 100,000 as
the war is expected to rage for months to come. Inevitably, concerns
over humanitarian issues are mounting. There have been reports of food and
water shortages in one camp housing some 15,000 people.
Once again, violence has prevailed over
the province torn by war for more than 27 years. The bloody war between the
Indonesian forces and the Free Aceh Movement has been raging since GAM declared
independence in 1976. An estimated 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have
already been killed. [3] Prior to the Geneva Peace Agreement of 2002, killings
were averaging five persons a day. As a negotiator lamented: “Enormous damage had been wreaked on the economic and social
life of this resource-rich province. The people of Aceh were weary of the
conflict.”[4]
HISTORY
Aceh has a special place in Indonesia’s
history. It played a significant role in Indonesia’s growth and development as
an Islamic nation. Islam gained its first foothold here. Indonesia’s earliest
international trading activities took place in its ports as well.
But more than anything else,
Aceh is known for its militancy. Under the Dutch rule, the Acehnese began to
forge cooperation with other areas in Indonesia and were involved in various
national and political movements.[5]
It was pacified by the Dutch colonizers
only in the 1930s, shortly before the outbreak of war.[6]
In fact, it was one of the strong supporters of the
unitary Republic of Indonesia in the early years of the country's independence.
“Beside moral support, Aceh
also gave material support to the young Indonesia. In 1946, Acehnese bought
national bonds issued by Indonesia's provisional government in Sumatra, with
denominations of Rp 100, Rp 500 and Rp 1,000. In addition, the Acehnese also
donated cash to help finance the Indonesian government in Yogyakarta to run its
operations and open representative offices abroad. In 1949, the Acehnese
donated two airplanes, one of which was the famous Seulawah plane that
later became a pioneer in the establishment of national flag-carrier Garuda
Indonesia. Because of these donations in the early period of Indonesia, first
president Sukarno described Aceh as a capital of Indonesia.”[7]
However,
a series of political events took place that somehow sowed seeds of violence
throughout the province. Aceh’s role in the development of independent
Indonesia was recognized by elevating its status into a province. By a decree
issued on 1949, Teungku
Daud Beureueh was appointed as its governor. However, the council of ministers
disregarded the resolution on establishing the Aceh Province. When Indonesia
joined the United Nations and became a
republic, the dissolution of the Aceh province was announced.
Angered by the series of setbacks
experienced by the province, Daud Beureuech declared Aceh’s independence from
Indonesia. With numerous Acehnese backing this rebellion, it took a while
before it was crushed.
To assuage the hatred felt by many
Acehnese, the central government gave Aceh the status of special territory in
1959. This decree conferred an unusually high degree of autonomy in religious,
educational and cultural matters. A certain level of prosperity in the province shortly after, but the
secessionist sentiment of many Acehnese has never abated. On Dec. 4, 1976, Teungku
Hasan M. di Tiro founded the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). Not long after, a cycle
of violence started to unravel. GAM members, calling itself the Aceh-Sumatra
National Liberation Front (ASNLF), attacked police and military installations.
The Government responded by declaring Aceh a Military Operation Zone (DOM). The
DOM status remained for nine years until it was lifted due to rising protests
from human rights activists. It is claimed that the imposition of DOM only
worsened the situation in Aceh as it facilitated massive human rights
violations by military and police personnel. At least 1,600 cases of human
rights violations have been reported during the nine-year period. Deaths and
disappearances of at least 760 people have been documented. In sum, a total of
six hundred women were reported widowed, 10 raped and 1,960 children orphaned
during the military operations. This pattern of abuse and violence, committed
by both the military and the rebels eventually prevailed up to this day.
On December 9, 2002 in Geneva, Indonesia
and GAM signed a peace agreement ending the 26 years of hostility between the
two parties. The agreement stated that
GAM would disarm and in return, the government would withdraw most of its troops
and would grant Aceh wide regional autonomy and the Acehnese control over the
region’s natural resources and permission to hold elections for an Acehnese
legislature. Although this peace agreement was perceived to be the solution to
the conflict, it only served its purpose temporarily as the conflict in Aceh
was renewed in May of this year.[8]
Indonesian President, Megawati
Sukarnoputri sent military troops in Aceh when the separatist movement refused
to disarm their weapons. Indonesian government deployed thousands of soldiers
and Brimob to fight against the 5000 members of GAM. Although this conflict in
Aceh is not as huge as compared to the conflict in East Timor, the stake for
Indonesia as a country is high. The conflict is a threat to Indonesia’s
stability as a country. Indonesia’s territorial integrity is at risk.
Furthermore, GAM is believed to be a murderous and extremist group that is
involved in narcotic trades and human rights abuses.[9]
The International Crisis Group listed
four possible actions which the Indonesian government could execute. The
following were to: negotiate with
GAM; buy off GAM; marginalize GAM; or pursue military operations. The
Indonesian government opted to pursue its military operations when President
Sukarnoputri declared martial law in Aceh after negotiations with GAM failed.
GAM did not comply to the May-12 deadline given by the government to disarm and
abandon their independence goal given. The government was firm not grant GAM
full independence of Aceh. What the government was only willing to grant GAM
was an autonomy package that would guarantee Aceh a part of the resource
revenues and allow the region to implement its sharia law.[10]
Assessment
The Indonesian government’s decision
to declare war against the GAM may have resulted to the need to obliterate the
separatist group to end the hostility in Aceh. The failure of the peace
agreement and renewed negotiations forced the government to declare war as its
last resort. GAM was not willing to concede to the government’s conditions. All
that GAM demanded for was independence and nothing else. Had the government
succumb to GAM’s condition, the integrity of Indonesia would have been put in
jeopardy. The demand to have an independent Aceh should not be considered the
sentiment of all the people of Aceh since the ones who are advocating for an
independent Aceh are only those who belong to the movement as well as those who
support it. The government chose to solve the chaos in Aceh by addressing the
underlying cause which is the separatist movement.
The conflict in Aceh may be
considered a threat not only to Indonesia but a threat to the whole South-East
Asia. Now that the South-East Asia region finds itself in a period of
instability, further turmoil and uprising such as that of Aceh will only
encourage other separatist movements to organize themselves and revolt against
their respective governments. The need for an urgent solution and end to the
hostility in Indonesia is a challenge that Indonesian government faces at the
moment.
[1]
Presidential
Decree No. 28/2003 On The Declaration of a State of Emergency with the Status
of Martial Law in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Province
[2]
Aceh War Could Last 5 Months, Create 100,000
Refugees http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2003-06/17/article05.shtml
[3]
(Indonesia will take years to subdue Aceh Rebellion: Official - Additional
Reporting By Kazi Mahmood, IOL Southeast Asia Correspondent http://216.239.53.104/search?q=cache:eKhorVb1b7sJ:www.islamonline.net/English/News/2003-07/08/article07.shtml+aceh+war+in+indonesia&hl=en&ie=UTF-
[4]
Wiryono Sastrohandoyo, The Aceh
Conflict: The Long Road to Peace
[5]
[http://www.thejakartapost.com/special/os_7_history.asp]
[6]
[5] A humane dialogue Printed in The Jakarta Post
Thursday, September 28, 2000
[http://www.thejakartapost.com/special/os_7_news.asp?FileID=20000928.C01]
[7]
[http://www.thejakartapost.com/special/os_7_history.asp] Northwestern tip of
Sumatra Island.
[8]
Slobodan Lekic,
“Indonesia, Acehnese rebels sign pact to end 26-year war,” Associated
Press,
[http://www.iht.com/ihtsearch.php?id
=79647&owner=(Associated%20Press)&date=20021210125536], 9 December
2002.
[9]
“The Australian: Big trouble in Little Aceh,”
[http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,6472161%255E25377,00.html],
22 May 2003.
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